A Bittersweet Deal
by missxmad
Summary: When Gaius gets locked up in a dungeon, his only options are to escape or face the wrath of the law. But when a mysterious man finds him and offers him a job that can buy him out of his trail and possible sentence, he thinks he may have found the perfect way out. The only problem is... the job is to kidnap the princess of Ylisse.
1. The Deal

Dark shadows danced through the bars on the barely lit walls. Water dripped from the ceiling. The walls were covered in green-grey moss that began to grow into the floor. In between the cold stones of the floor rats walked. Iron bars separated the hallway from the cells of the dungeon. All the cells were full of prisoners, most of the yelling to be let free.

Gaius sat against a damp wall, his head forward, staring at his hands in his lap. His clothes were ripped and his face scratched. His hands were soaked with blood. Candy wrappers were scattered all over his cell- he had no candy left. Water was running through the cracks in the floor and sweeping away a tiny bit of the sugar that was stuck to the wrappers.

There was a creak of a wooden door and Gaius perked up. He saw light flow into the dungeon. The other prisoners did as well. They ran to the bars of their cells and shook them, screaming things such as "Let us out," and "I don't want to die." A shadow of a man appeared and the repeating sounds of footsteps. They got ever so closer, but then they stopped. And they stopped in front of his cell. Gaius glared at the man.

"What do you want?" Gaius asked in a calm tone.

"I have heard of your crimes. You steal for no reason, they say," the man replied, smirking. "And you get caught on purpose."

"Lies," Gaius said boldly.

"Oh, I don't believe them. Truly," The man responded. "I think you steal for a good reason. And I think you're pretty damn good at it."

"What do you want?" He repeated.

"I need a job done. It's well paying… and it'll get you out of this dungeon."

"What is the job?"

"Kidnap the princess," the man said with a large grin. "Oh, and deliver her to a Plegian outpost." No response. "You don't get time to think about it, boy. I could just go out there and find another thief, but I want to help you get outta here. You have potential," the man continued. "All you have to do is sneak into her quarters and grab her, then run. It's not hard, boy."

"Then why don't you do it?" Gaius retaliated.

The man took a step back. "It seems you have a bit of a temper."

"Then why don't you do it?" He repeated.

The man reached down and rolled up one of his pant legs. His calf was droopy and it seemed like there was no bone. "How do some of your people put it? I'm a… vegetable?"

"Ah."

"So will you do it, boy? It's so simple," the man smirked again. "Remember, there's a good price if you do this. You escape from this cell and if you caught again, you could just pay them off."

Gaius stared at his blood soaked hands. "Fine. Get me out of here."

The man turned and grabbed a large chain. He pulled and the bars lifted up a few inches. "Scoot underneath, boy. Now."

Gaius crawled over and slid underneath the bars only a second before the man dropped the chain. The bars snapped back down and nearly cut his legs off. He pushed himself up and walked towards the door, which was still open. The moaning and yelling of the other prisoners echoed into the hallway, even after the door had been closed.

"Where are the guards, huh?" Gaius asked suspiciously.

"Knocked-out, obviously," the man replied and limped forward.

"I'm not stupid. I just don't see anyone anywhere."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"I guess…"

...

It was nearly midnight by now. Gaius sat in an old tent just outside of Ylisstol. He was waiting for a man, the boss of the operation. Just as Gaius was about to nod off, someone walked in. The man sat down in front of Gaius.

"Let's talk payment. I say that-" Gaius began, but was immediately cut off.

"Shut it. I will talk you payment, and you keep quiet," the man snapped back.

"Fine."

"Payment…" the man paced around the tent, murmuring to himself. "I will give you enough gold to buy food for four months, to keep out of trouble. That's more than enough, but Garten said you're good and expensive."

"_Sweeten_ the deal," Gaius replied quickly, nodding.

"What?! You want more than that?" the man yelled.

"In a way, yes," Gaius smirked. "Sweets. Candy. Pastries. Add that to the deal- four months of them- and we'll be good."

The man laughed. "You want candy? If I gave you that deal… the gold for two and the sweets for two."

"Three months each."

"Three for the sweets, two for the money. That's the best it's gonna get, boy."

"Good enough for me."

"It had better be. I'm not paying you any more than that."

"That's fine with me," Gaius said, stepping up and turning around. "See ya."

"Where are you going?" the man yelled after him.

"I'm off to catch a princess."

* * *

**A/N** Hello there, people who are reading this. This is probably going to be one of the shorter chapters of this fanfic. Usually I write about 1000-1500 word chapters, but this one fell short. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and come back to read more!

-missxmad


	2. Take and Escape

It was the next night. The sun was just setting when Gaius noticed, through a window, a girl. She had bright blonde pigtails and yellow dress with what looked like a white apron. _Man, she's not half bad-looking,_ was his first thought. He immediately shook that thought out of his head. _I have to stay on track_._ Just wait 'til she falls asleep then grab her. Wait, that is the princess, right?_

The girl flopped down onto the bed and pulled a few curtains to her bed shut. Gaius crept closer to the window and heard her murmuring something. He could only make out a few words: "Stupid… Chrom… Not weak…" He scrunched his eyebrows. Was she angry at the prince?

The girl pulled away some curtains and stared out the window. Gaius moved just in time, or did he? The girl jumped off of her bed and ran to the window, pushing it open. She held her head out, glancing around when she caught sight of Gaius. She tilted her head slightly.

"What are you doing outside my window?" she asked in a very innocent tone.

"Uh, just got lost," Gaius replied quickly.

"You're not going to kidnap me or anything, right?" she laughed.

"Well, actually, it's kinda on my job description to," he said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, that's good. I was scared for minute that-" she stopped talking immediately. Her eyes widened and she pulled her head back inside. She grabbed the nearest thing she could find- her staff- and let out a scream as Gaius jumped in through the window. He took a few steps closer to her.

"Look, princess, I'm not gonna hurt you," He said in a calming voice, getting ever so closer to her. He had her backed into a corner now.

"G-get away from me!" the girl screamed, holding her staff out at him. "Guards! Help-" Her screams were muffled by Gaius who had put his hand over her mouth. He turned her around and grabbed her, picking her up and retreating out the window as fast he could.

Right as he had jumped out the window, the guards burst into the princess's room. They watched as Gaius fled.

"Get him! He has the princess!" the leader of the guards yelled.

An archer ran up to the window and aimed right at Gaius' back. But as the arrow flew from the bow, Gaius jumped down onto the streets. The townsfolk screamed and didn't know exactly what was going on.

...

Minutes later, Gaius, still holding the girl, had escaped into the forest. It was right as he was certain they had gotten away that he put the girl down. She had her arms crossed and glared at the thief.

"Bring me home right now," She demanded.

"No," Gaius responded.

"Bring me home or I'll scream. They're not too far behind. They can still find me."

"No."

"Bring me home right now!" She pouted.

"No."

And it was then that she let out the most bloodcurdling scream in the world. Gaius quickly turned around and put his hand over her mouth, only for her to bite it.

"Ow! That hurt!" Gaius yelled at her. He shook his hand and stared at the girl angrily. There was the sound of running hooves getting closer.

"Oh, look. Here they come. They'll sweep me off my feet and bring me back home."

"Nope!" He exclaimed, running up to her and picking her up again. She thrashed around and tried to get free, but Gaius held onto her tight. He sprinted as fast as he could, dodging trees and rocks and having to jump over a stream or two. The sounds of the horses getting closer and closer only made him go faster.

"Let. Me. GO!" The princess screamed. She repeated it over and over again as Gaius ran. He was getting just a bit annoyed of her. _Why did I take this job?_ he thought, not really paying attention to where he was running anymore or the sounds around him. He just wanted to block the princess's annoying voice out of his head. _Why didn't I just break out of jail when I could?_

The next second, he noticed blood spilling out of his nose. _Oh damn, not now!_ He jumped behind a tree and put the still thrashing princess down. With one hand he had her pushed against the tree and with the other he held the blood in his nose, trying not to have it spill all over him. The princess began to whack Gaius in the head with her staff.

"Let me go!" She yelled at him once more. As she was about to hit him again with her staff, he whipped his bloody hand up and grabbed it.

"Calm down, Princess," he snarled before letting go of the staff and going back to his nose. "And be quiet."

...

Once the bleeding had stopped, there was no sign of the knights anywhere. The Princess was silent and glaring at him, her staff on the ground. She had her hands around her knees and her hair had fallen out of its regular pigtails. As she noticed Gaius looking back at her, she glanced away.

"Alright, Princess, we have to keep moving," He said as he wiped his face free of blood.

She jumped up and shook her head. "No! It's, uh, too dark…"

He raised his eyebrows. "You're scared of the dark?"

She nodded. "Yes…"

"It will be dark if we stay here or if we keep going."

"Then make a fire."

"No thanks. I have no plans on being found tonight."

"Please?" the princess asked, flashing him puppy eyes.

* * *

**A/N **Okay, if you were wondering at all, this is written in third person limited point of view. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It's a bit longer than the first one. This chapter was updated quickly. The next few chapters may be a few more days apart. Oh yes, and the romance _might _come soon. Usually bickering leads to romance... right?

Also, in response to the review I had gotten from **Cormag Ravenstaff**: Yes, now that I read over it again that part about the money exchange is a bit confusing. I guess I didn't really know how to word it, but it was supposed to mean he would get enough gold to pass by for that amount of months without having to steal anything. He would need to go unnoticed for awhile to stay out of trouble in case he were caught and someone recognized him, somehow possibly linking him to the kidnap. And thank you for the review.

-missxmad


	3. The Cool Rain

Gaius sat at the fire that the princess had forced him to create. It lit up the small clearing they had found, but created long, hanging shadows. Before she had fallen asleep, the princess had let out constant squeals and screams, believing that one of the shadows was a bandit or monster coming after her. He had just sat there and watched her scared face, reassuring her that the shadows were nothing but shadows.

After she had finally fallen asleep, Gaius searched through his pockets, looking for candy. As he found nothing, he switched to checking his sleeves. Again, he found nothing. He let out a sigh and leaned back onto a tree trunk, his hands behind his head. He stared up through the tree branches at the stars and smirked. Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

...

He woke with a start and frantically looked around. He had a dream about kidnapping the princess and being chased by knights. He pushed himself up and began to walk out of the clearing, only catching a glance of the princess from the corner of his eye. He strolled through the forest for awhile until he noticed a building. He got closer and noticed it was part of a small town.

"They have to have sweets here," he whispered to himself.

He snuck into the town, hiding behind buildings and trees, hoping not to be seen. He watched the people carefully and analyzed the buildings, trying to find which one was a sweet shop, if there was one. There were many children running and playing outside, but then they went into a certain building. They came out only a minute later with lollipops and taffy. Gaius grinned.

He walked into the crowd and attempted to blend in. He strolled towards the sweet shop, whistling. He opened the door and his eyes widened. There were so many sweets!

...

He was walking through the forest again, his arms full of candy and little cakes, when he happened across the forest clearing. He sat down and began to shove the candy into his pockets and down his sleeves. He hid some in his shoes and a few lollipops in his shirt. As he looked back up, he saw the princess giving him puppy eyes.

"It wasn't a dream?" he asked himself. "Damn."

"Can I have some candy?" she asked him politely, holding out her hands.

"Uh, no," he stated, standing back up.

"Please?"

"No."

"Give me candy. That is an order! I am the princess of Ylisse and you will-" she began, but then Gaius interrupted her.

"You may be the princess, but I'm in charge right now. Got it?"

"Hmph. I am the princess."

"So you are. And you know, since you probably want to get back to your little castle right 'bout now, how 'bout I take you back," he said with a smirk.

"Oh! Okay," she smiled.

"Follow me. I'm sure you can walk, Princess."

"It's Lissa," she said a little angrily.

"Oh, so that's your name. I could always remember your siblings' names, but not yours," Gaius said sarcastically, though it was true. "C'mon, follow me."

...

They walked through the forest. They pushed through thick bushes, low branches, and a few creeks. At one point it began to rain and Lissa demanded for Gaius to stop and give her his cloak. Regretfully, he did so. They continued to walk, the rain pouring down on their heads. The trees seemed to give barely any cover from the cold rain. Lissa, with Gaius' cloak on, began to shiver.

"It's too cold," she whined, trying to hide under a tree and warm herself.

"What do you want me to do about it?" he replied a bit angrily.

"Find me shelter, or keep me from getting wet!" she yelled.

"Alright, I'll try to find a shack or something."

...

It was getting dark and a lot colder. Gaius shivered in his soaking wet clothes. There were no buildings around for them to take refuge in. They were stuck in the rain. Their stomachs grumbled, and Gaius had already eaten much of his candy. He offered one to Lissa after hearing her grumble about her hunger.

"Here," he said, holding up a bear-shaped lollipop. Lissa grabbed it and stuck it in her mouth quickly.

"Mmm… It tastes so good!" she laughed, suddenly getting a boost of energy. "Hey, are we almost there?"

"Almost where?" he asked in confusion.

"Ylisstol! You said you'd take me back."

"Oh yeah, we'll be there in the morning, if we keep walking in the dark, cold, rain," he said, grinning. He had no intent to bring her back to the castle. It was nothing but a little white lie to get her to follow him to the outpost.

"No!" Lissa whined.

"Then help me find shelter and I'll make a fire."

Just then, she pointed into the distance. Gaius turned around and saw a large red barn. He grabbed Lissa's hand and pulled her with him. They ran towards it, smiles on their faces. As they entered, they let out a sigh of relief and Gaius began to make a fire. She walked over and sat a pile of hay and stared at the horses in their stalls.

"Fire's done," he said as a flame burst out. She smiled and got back up only to sit back down by the fire. She pulled down the hood of his cloak and pulled the sides in tight.

"Mmm, it's warm," she said, making a happy noise.

"Yeah, it sure is."

Lissa stretched her legs and arms before lying down, wrapping the cloak around herself once more. "Good-night," she mumbled, closing her eyes.

"Night, Princess."

* * *

**A/N **Hello again! I hope you liked this chapter and want more! This chapter was a little hard since I wrote this while having a million other ideas in my head, but whatever. It was still fun. I think you'll love the next chapter, it just might involve a certain little farmer boy. Thank you **Gunlord500** and **Michiru Shiroku** for the reviews!

-missxmad


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